High Sierra (1941)
7.1 /10
348 Reviews
Rate This Movie:
Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.
Videos & Photos
cast
... Marie
... Roy Earle
... Babe
... Red
... Velma
User reviews
Roy Earle, a man out of prison and out of his time.
Thanks to a rather shifty pardon, Roy Earle Is released early from prison. A job is out here waiting to be done - maybe Roy's last one before finally finding love and straightening out? But Roy is finding out that this is a different world to the one he left behind, the one before he entered the Big House for his stretch. There are crooks he's not familiar with and women turning his head, hell even a canine has him at odds with his machismo sensibility, but all of it will come crashing together amongst the magnificent High Sierra!
It's a really funny thing now, you buy two DVDs and they both tell you that the respective film from 1941 is the breakout role for Humphrey Bogart. I am of course referring to both this fabulous film and the equally brilliant Maltese Falcon, what a double that is eh! Truth is, is that both films merely showcase what a talent the great man was, and crucially, that he could imbue his characters with terrific pathos and emotive drive. Here as Roy Earle Bogart gives one of his best 40s performances, this on a CV that has many other great turns. Made to look far more aged than he was (well done Perc Westmore), he manages to make Earle a tough and gritty man, yet at the same time he pulls the audience on side with a hardened professionalism that has us admiring the obvious qualities that reside deep within him.
Directed by directing great Raoul Walsh, scripted by one John Huston, and starring Humphrey Bogart, it's obvious that this take on W.R. Burnett's novel is in safe hands. Playing out as one of the gangster genre's last hurrahs, it's clear to me that some future great Western directors were taking notes, for what drives High Sierra to being so gripping throughout is the man out of his time pulse beats, sensitivity seams through the picture without ever cloying the tension and feel of the pic. The best Adult Westerns coming in the next two decades would grab this thematic arc with genre bolstering aplomb.
Backing up Bogart is the top billed Ida Lupinio (as we would come to expect she's strong and perfect foil to her lead man), while the likes of Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy, Henry Hull, Cornel Wilde, Henry Travers and Joan Leslie (badly overacting but amazingly not hurting the production) help to put High Sierra firmly in the drawer that holds classic crime pictures from a golden age. Not just content to be a close look at deep and elegiac characters, High Sierra does not lack in the action department either, in fact Walsh does an incredible job of knitting together heart and gusto for dramatic entertainment purpose.
Come the finale at Mount Whitney (High Sierra a constant looming presence in the film, a key character}, the thrills have more than catered for the inclined seekers of that particular bent, but ultimately as the credits role, Walsh's camera leaves us in no doubt as to what has driven Roy, and High Sierra, to its point of meaning, leaving us with a special and great movie indeed. 9/10
Director:
Release Date:
1941-01-23
Run Time:
100 min
MMPA Rating:
NR
Reviews of
High Sierra
Roy Earle, a man out of prison and out of his time.
Thanks to a rather shifty pardon, Roy Earle Is released early from prison. A job is out here waiting to be done - maybe Roy's last one before finally finding love and straightening out? But Roy is finding out that this is a different world to the one he left behind, the one before he entered the Big House for his stretch. There are crooks he's not familiar with and women turning his head, hell even a canine has him at odds with his machismo sensibility, but all of it will come crashing together amongst the magnificent High Sierra!
It's a really funny thing now, you buy two DVDs and they both tell you that the respective film from 1941 is the breakout role for Humphrey Bogart. I am of course referring to both this fabulous film and the equally brilliant Maltese Falcon, what a double that is eh! Truth is, is that both films merely showcase what a talent the great man was, and crucially, that he could imbue his characters with terrific pathos and emotive drive. Here as Roy Earle Bogart gives one of his best 40s performances, this on a CV that has many other great turns. Made to look far more aged than he was (well done Perc Westmore), he manages to make Earle a tough and gritty man, yet at the same time he pulls the audience on side with a hardened professionalism that has us admiring the obvious qualities that reside deep within him.
Directed by directing great Raoul Walsh, scripted by one John Huston, and starring Humphrey Bogart, it's obvious that this take on W.R. Burnett's novel is in safe hands. Playing out as one of the gangster genre's last hurrahs, it's clear to me that some future great Western directors were taking notes, for what drives High Sierra to being so gripping throughout is the man out of his time pulse beats, sensitivity seams through the picture without ever cloying the tension and feel of the pic. The best Adult Westerns coming in the next two decades would grab this thematic arc with genre bolstering aplomb.
Backing up Bogart is the top billed Ida Lupinio (as we would come to expect she's strong and perfect foil to her lead man), while the likes of Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy, Henry Hull, Cornel Wilde, Henry Travers and Joan Leslie (badly overacting but amazingly not hurting the production) help to put High Sierra firmly in the drawer that holds classic crime pictures from a golden age. Not just content to be a close look at deep and elegiac characters, High Sierra does not lack in the action department either, in fact Walsh does an incredible job of knitting together heart and gusto for dramatic entertainment purpose.
Come the finale at Mount Whitney (High Sierra a constant looming presence in the film, a key character}, the thrills have more than catered for the inclined seekers of that particular bent, but ultimately as the credits role, Walsh's camera leaves us in no doubt as to what has driven Roy, and High Sierra, to its point of meaning, leaving us with a special and great movie indeed. 9/10
Cast & Crew of
High Sierra
Cast
... Marie
... Roy Earle
... Babe
... Red
... Velma
... Pa
... 'Doc' Banton
... Healy
... Mrs. Baughmam
... Jake Kranmer
... Big Mac
... Algernon
... Ma
... Louis Mendoza
... Mr. Baughmam
... Blonde
... Ed
... Pfiffer
... Art
... Lon Preiser
... Margie (uncredited)
... Pard
Crew
... Director
... Screenplay
... Novel
... Original Music Composer
... Screenplay
... Director of Photography
... Makeup Artist
... Executive Producer
... Editor
... Art Direction
... Assistant Director
... Sound
... Associate Producer
... Costume Design
Videos & Photos of
High Sierra
Videos (1)
Photos 28
Similar Movies To
High Sierra
The Longest Yard (2005)
6.668/10
Disgraced pro football quarterback Paul Crewe lands in a Texas federal penitentiary, where manipulative Warden Hazen recruits him to advise the institution's football team of prison guards. Crewe suggests a tune-up game which lands him quarterbacking a crew of inmates in a game against the guards. Aided by incarcerated ex-NFL coach and player Nate Scarborough, Crewe and his team must overcome not only the bloodthirstiness of the opposition, but also the corrupt warden trying to fix the game against them.
Release: 2005-05-27
Last Man Standing (1996)
6.349/10
John Smith is a mysterious stranger who is drawn into a vicious war between two Prohibition-era gangs. In a dangerous game, he switches allegiances from one to another, offering his services to the highest bidder. As the death toll mounts, Smith takes the law into his own hands in a deadly race to stay alive.
Release: 1996-09-20
Click (2006)
6.301/10
A married workaholic, Michael Newman doesn't have time for his wife and children, not if he's to impress his ungrateful boss and earn a well-deserved promotion. So when he meets Morty, a loopy sales clerk, he gets the answer to his prayers: a magical remote that allows him to bypass life's little distractions with increasingly hysterical results.
Release: 2006-06-23
Species (1995)
5.973/10
In 1993, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Project receives a transmission detailing an alien DNA structure, along with instructions on how to splice it with human DNA. The result is Sil, a sensual but deadly creature who can change from a beautiful woman to an armour-plated killing machine in the blink of an eye.
Release: 1995-07-07
Wheelman (2017)
6.1/10
A getaway driver for a bank robbery realizes he has been double crossed and races to find out who betrayed him.
Release: 2017-10-20
Money Talks (1997)
6/10
Sought by police and criminals, a small-time huckster makes a deal with a TV newsman for protection.
Release: 1997-08-22
Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
5.653/10
Babe, fresh from his victory in the sheepherding contest, returns to Farmer Hoggett's farm, but after Farmer Hoggett is injured and unable to work, Babe has to go to the big city to save the farm.
Release: 1998-11-25
Buffalo '66 (1998)
7.142/10
Billy is released after five years in prison. In the next moment, he kidnaps teenage student Layla and visits his parents with her, pretending she is his girlfriend and they will soon marry.
Release: 1998-01-20
He Got Game (1998)
6.754/10
A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter prison sentence.
Release: 1998-05-01
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
5.49/10
The Angels are charged with finding a pair of missing rings that are encoded with the personal information of members of the Witness Protection Program. As informants are killed, the ladies target a rogue agent who might be responsible.
Release: 2003-06-25
Euthanizer (2017)
6.5/10
Euthanizer tells the story of a mechanic who euthanises sick and old pets as a side job. Despite the grim work, he has a soft spot for the animals. Trouble stirs when the owner of a dog he was supposed to end realises that the canine is still alive. The only innocent party in the drama that ensues is the dog itself.
Release: 2017-11-24
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
7.328/10
Times are tough at Premiere Properties. Shelley "the machine" Levene and Dave Moss are veteran salesmen, but only Ricky Roma is on a hot streak. The new Glengarry sales leads could turn everything around, but the front office is holding them back until these "losers" prove themselves. Then someone decides to take matters into his own hands, stealing the Glengarry leads and leaving everyone wondering who did it.
Release: 1992-09-10
Chopper (2000)
6.765/10
The true and infamous story of Australia's notorious criminal Mark 'Chopper' Read and his years of crime, interest in violence, drugs and prostitutes.
Release: 2000-06-21
Mercenaries (2014)
5.1/10
A diplomatic official is captured and imprisoned while touring a war zone, so a team of elite female commandos is assembled to infiltrate a women's prison for a daring rescue.
Release: 2014-08-05
Maverick (1994)
6.891/10
Bret Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional $3k in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game beginning in a few days. He joins forces with a woman with a marvelous Southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.
Release: 1994-05-20
GoodFellas (1990)
8.452/10
The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
Release: 1990-09-12
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
7.05/10
A group of survivors take refuge in a shopping mall after the world is taken over by aggressive, flesh-eating zombies.
Release: 2004-03-19
Heat (1995)
7.928/10
Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.
Release: 1995-12-15
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
7.707/10
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
Release: 1941-10-18
Strangers on a Train (1951)
7.666/10
A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.
Release: 1951-06-27